Lawmakers to Scott: Fix schools
Keep brightest in state, help failing students, they tell gov.-elect
ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH -- Rick Scott, Florida's governor-elect, stopped at the Hilton Garden Inn with his mobile transition team Wednesday to listen to local lawmakers, all of whom stressed that the state's education system needs improvement.
At the table with Scott were State Sens. Steven Wise, R-Jacksonville, and Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, as well as State Reps. Bill Proctor, R-St. Augustine, and Mike Weinstein, R-Orange Park.
Wise handed Scott a report he commissioned from education consultant Alexandria Penn-Williams that examined the efficiency and effectiveness of the state's Department of Education.
One major drawback, for example, was the DOE's inadequate computer system, which Wise was astounded to learn still uses Cobal, one of the oldest programing languages, invented in 1959.
"It takes a lot of time to convert data into a usable format," Wise said. "(But) the people who make the decisions in the DOE don't want to change the program. They'd have to learn a new system."
That system has been patched over and over again, he said.
In addition, Wise said, a respected high school program, The Governor's School for Math, Science and Space Technology, had been reduced to just summer sessions due to budget cuts.
"These are rising seniors, gifted and talented kids. They're taught by astronaut Sam Durrance of Jacksonville. Bright kids from Florida end up at MIT or CalTech. None stay here," he said. "We ought to have an initiative that focuses in on kids who are very bright."
A $60,000 scholarship program at Florida Institute of Technology might keep those students in the state, he said.
Wise also sounded an alarm about the increasing numbers of black boys falling behind in school.
"We're third in the nation in the number of black boys enrolled in public schools, behind Texas and Georgia. There are 2,000 ninth-grade kids in 44 schools in Nassau, Flagler, Putnam, Union, Hamilton, Baker, Suwanee and Lafayette counties who read at Level 1 on the FCAT," he said.
That is below third-grade level, he said.
'Anarchy in the big cities'
"How did they get to ninth-grade reading at that level and not read? There are 111,000 kids in Florida who have failed their grade two or more times. If we don't do something with these kids, we're going to have anarchy in the big cities."
Weinstein said children who fall behind in school "give up and are basically done. Mentoring alone doesn't work. Scholarships alone don't work. Together, they can give kids the idea, 'No matter where I come from, I can get somewhere.'"
Both offered one possible way to finance the mentoring and scholarship idea: Ask each utility bill customer to add $1 or $2 to add to his electric bill.
Wise said utility companies are reluctant to do that, but after three years of asking, Jacksonville Electric Authority decided to implement it and called it Prosperity Scholarship.
"JEA could present the idea to all utilities in the state, saying, 'This is what we did and how we did it.' It's not a lot of money," he said.
Weinstein said his main concern is philosophical.
"We need to determine what it is we want government to do," he said. "When you get to that, everything else is easier. If every (level of government) has a hand in running the school system, nobody is accountable. I'd like to push things down as far as possible and not micro-manage. Let's fund our priorities adequately and let everybody fight for what's left. It's going to be painful."
Define universities' missions
Proctor said his concerns involve property insurance, education and military veterans affairs.
"We haven't forced mission commitments on our major universities and make them function on the things that they do well," he said.
Hill said that a group of students in Jacksonville is building solar hot water heaters, though the ones available commercially are mostly made in China.
"There's no reason why we can't manufacture them here to create jobs," he said.
He'd also like to see a repeal of a law requiring two forms of identification to get into a Florida port, saying it is expensive and restrictive on port workers to renew those IDs annually.
"We're competing with Savannah and Charleston," he said.
Hill also said the graduation rate among black males was "disastrous" and said a program designed to get more black males working in elementary education would help.
The legislators were unanimous in agreeing that pension reform will be an issue lawmakers must tackle.
After an hour of receiving input, Scott told the group, "I look forward to working with you in Tallahassee."
In a two-minute press conference in front of the hotel, Scott fielded one or two questions.
"My job is to listen and try to understand what everyone in Florida is concerned about," he said. "I'm interested in tort reform and job creation. Those states who will do the best (in attracting jobs) are those states most conducive to business."
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can't wait..
to see how effective scott is at gutting the educational system to endorse private schools and vouchers.. it is helpful that his party and his followers abhor intelligence and exalt ignorance.. soon enough, this state will be lower than Mississippi and scott, thrasher, bush, et. al., will be satisfied to rule over a state of morons..
He goes to a meeting about schools
Then says
"I'm interested in tort reform and job creation. Those states who will do the best (in attracting jobs) are those states most conducive to business."
Hellooooooo where you listening?
Nope
they're not.
No one seems to get that jobs are created by the private sector, that education is what's needed to invoke young and old minds to be positive and creative enough to do that, and that education is needed to run the business so that all prosper.
You are only as good as your employees.
Why?
Why is it that whenever they try to fix education they focus on the teachers? Maybe the administration and the parents should be held accountable for their lack of support of the teachers allowing them to be able to provide appropriate discipline to maintain control in the classroom. We are not talking about abuse but rather a return to when a student was disruptive they weren't allowed to just return to class because the administration is afraid of being sued by the parents. If teens know they can manipulate the system they will and do.
When it comes to cuts, why is it always teachers who are cut but not administration. I am tired of seeing an article about the need to cut teachers due to financial problems then a week later see an announcement of the creation of a new assistant principle position being created at more money. Management means to manage and to accept responsibility. If nobody is responsible how can we teach students.
Because the teachers.....
are the ones living large on the government's dime, the teachers are the ones who belong to the evil, unpatriotic and seditious unions, the teachers are the easy target.
Rep. Proctor said that, in his opinion, one of the biggest frustrations of teachers is...not lack of supplies, not ever-changing and interfering state DOE regulations, not lack of discipline, not uninvolved parents, not the culture of 'educated elite', not the overt discouragement of intellectual curiosity in popular culture, not useless administrators promoted above their competency level.....no- the biggest frustration for teachers, in his mind, is that other teachers who aren't good at their jobs get the same automatic pay increase at the end of the year that they do. He didn't mention whether any other government employees on a step program feel a similar frustration. THAT is why he supports merit pay - because THAT is the biggest problem teachers face in the classroom.
Start there, and you can see why we will get nowhere, fast. The agenda is not for better public schools, it is a continuation of Jeb's agenda, using his advisors, to dismantle public education.
As for businesses - no business will relocate to Florida if their employees won't transfer; if there aren't good schools, families simply won't come. Do they factor that in?
The Conductor
It doesn't matter what fraudster Scott does, after he guts education and the other essential services in order to be " conducive to business" (code word for pillage taxpayer funds), he'll just plead the 5th, again.
It worked before.
Dumb people are easier to rule.
me
"THAT is why he [Spineless Sam Proctor] supports merit pay - because THAT is the biggest problem teachers face in the classroom."
Well, that and because he lacks the courage to oppose the whims of Career Lobbyist Thrasher.
Support for High Ability students
It is interesting to see that in "supporting business" the response is to provide opportunities for high ability students. I support that totally, but it is only part of the support for the schools issue.
The legislators resolve the school problems by sending their kids to private schools.
They solve what they consider to be the school problem by cutting funding and programs. That should certainly make things better.
Merit pay for teachers as a solution to school problems is a joke. It doesn't solve problems, it just salves legislative egos.
Eliminating tenure is another joke. In 45 years in education (now retired) I have met very very few "bad" teachers. I have met some teachers who were not assigned where they could be the most effective. Some have great success with high ability kids but lack the patience to be good with low ability people. Some are just the opposite. The work very well with concrete thinkers but don't function with kids who are abstract and move quickly.
A teacher has to make the parents of 20 or more kids happy (possibly times 6 or 8 periods in Junior high and High school) a day, or risk having someone call for their dismissal. Every kid who doesn't get elected cheerleader, or start on the team, or who gets caught cheating on a spelling test, has a parent that wants that teacher fired.
Nobody is listening to what teachers need or can accomplish. They all "went to school themselves" and so are all "experts" on education.
Fix. Appropriate choice of a word
Scott oversaw the "fix" that targeted Medicare.
Now he is expected to engineer a "fix" on the schools.
Well, if there's enough money in it for him, I'm sure that he will get it "fixed".
Code Words
Typical response of a republican -- "provide more for high ability students". Its kinda like advantage the advantaged. I think ALL STUDENTS - the under-performing, the potential drop outs, the National Honor Society portion -- all students -- need proper and appropriate support.
Florida wont do that though -- they are more concerned about further reducing costs of education -- while pretending their efforts are really about improving an already failing system. After all we don't want to endanger our standing of 50th out of 50 states!
Code words - its a shame so many Floridians fall for them!
"Every One Is Entitled To Their Own Opinion But Not Their Own Facts. Facts Withstand Scrutiny, Opinions Often Do Not"
Community effort
Underperforming schools in 'poor neighborhoods' have been brought around by a complete effort - it takes a village, to coin a phrase - but the only part of it mentioned by politicians and the media are the parts affecting teachers. Not just the teachers and administrators at the school level, but the parents, regional and district officials in the school system, local business leaders, religious communities, city and county politicians, the police department all have to be involved. The kids have to have a safe route to school, they have to have after-school supervision and activities to keep them safe and out of trouble, they have to have eyes and ears paying attention to them and channeling them in the right direction wherever they go, they have to not only know that they have to do what they are supposed to do but that it's expected and accepted that they succeed.
While the politicans are busy blaming teachers for all the ills of public education, they completely ignore that popular culture exalts ignorance, that some of the highest profile leaders of our country denigrate 'the educated elite', and that it's hard for kids in some neighborhoods to be smart without being subject to harassment. That portion of the education puzzle needs to be acknowledged and addressed.
If you like satire (and foul language), The Onion has an apropos 'story' today:http://www.theonion.com/articles/department-of-education-study-finds-tea...
Remember - good satire has at least the ring of truth to it......
Me, I agree completely with
Me,
I agree completely with the metaphor "it takes a village". Although important, it most certainly takes more than a teacher or even a school building.
Most Floridans I fear do not agree. Myopic scapegoating and finger pointing is a lot easier than finding and implementing real solutions. Getting off cheap seems to be all the rage!
It is going to be a very long 4 years!
"Every One Is Entitled To Their Own Opinion But Not Their Own Facts. Facts Withstand Scrutiny, Opinions Often Do Not"
Cobal
"One major drawback, for example, was the DOE's inadequate computer system, which Wise was astounded to learn still uses Cobal, one of the oldest programing languages, invented in 1959."
In case you were wondering how long Florida has ignored education.....
Advanced ability students
As a matter of fact, high ability ("gifted") students are the most under served population in American schools. People seem to feel "well their so smart, they should be able to get it on their own." At the same time, nobody looks at a 5th grader with good moves and says "well, he doesn't need to be coached, just let him grow up and he'll be in the pros." Nobody looks at a kid who shows talent in music or art and says "O.K., he (or she) is good. Leave them alone and let them get better." It would be considered a shame not to give them training and opportunities to develop whatever talent they showed.
A kid with a 50 IQ (50 points below the norm) can't dress themselves, can't make full sentences, has the vocabulary of a 3 or 4 year old etc. A kid with an IQ of 150 (50 points ABOVE the norm) has all sorts of educational and social needs (who can he or she even talk to, as an equal?) but will go into the standard 5th or 6th grade class in most schools and have lessons in long division and elementary fractions, read 6th grade books, and have geography that says there are 50 states, broken into such and so regions.
Can that kid develop on his or her own? Well, we had better hope so, because the schools are too busy getting low achievers through the stupid (state legislature required) FCAT to give any time to advanced students.
No Child Left Behind?
Yea, right!
Old Uncle Mac, While I am not
Old Uncle Mac,
While I am not sure I agree with your premise about under served "advanced ability kids", I would agree with your observation or complaint. Public schools must deal with virtually all kids of whatever ability or talent. They therefore should provide adequate service for the diverse nature of their students. Simply looking at the group at large and insuring they pass a FCAT test is not the answer. It requires more thought and customization than that.
I believe that all of us tend to live up to the expectations put upon us. Kids are no different.
While the standard deviation spread of 100 IQ points you used is extreme -- the great majority of students are capable of achieving success in school and in life if they are properly prepared by parents, educators, etc. The greatest problem facing our schools today are kids that are failing or performing below expectations -- not above them.
"Every One Is Entitled To Their Own Opinion But Not Their Own Facts. Facts Withstand Scrutiny, Opinions Often Do Not"
Cobal
and don't forget "programing"... any spell checker would find both errors if you were not quite up to the spelling task.. if the record will not pay for proofreaders, couldn't someone spell check prior to publishing??